Oklahoma Jobs Program Spurs Engineering Job Growth

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Military.com

What started as a one-person operation in Oklahoma has bloomed into a large engineering firm thanks to the Oklahoma Quality Jobs program. Located in Tulsa, Excellence Engineering is ready to expand by 50 employees in the next few years. According to Tulsa World, Excellence Engineering was founded in 2001 by Dee Hays and specializes in designing engineering projects such as pump stations and loading terminals. "We started in 2001 and for a long time it was just a small, one-person business, just me," Hays said. "Then in 2011 things really exploded."

"We're adding people now, but we are always looking for the right kind of people," she said.

The state program will pay up to 5% in rebates to companies that create new jobs. For Excellence Engineering, that would amount to roughly $2 million if it can hire 50 new people. With that type of incentive for the company, anyone with a background in engineering or project management should actively pursue Excellence Engineering for a position.

Oklahoma veterans with a background in either field should benefit from the new jobs as well as the program as a whole. These types of incentives give employers extra encouragement to create jobs and grow the local economy. That isn't to say that Excellence Engineering will lower their standards to meet hiring goals, but 50 new employees may be difficult to come by.

A successful transition always comes with a large degree of planning, and even if you won't be qualified to join the company in time to take advantage of these new goals, you might still benefit from pursuing a degree or career in engineering or project management. Both degrees lead to high paying careers and won't be going away any time soon. Lucrative positions are relatively hard to come by, but with the proper training and experience, veterans and transitioning service members can gain a solid foothold into the working world, especially in the engineering industry.